How to Save a Gus
by PsychUOut
Summary: Gus is in trouble. Shawn is too far away to help. Who's going to save him?


**How to Save a Gus**

Disclaimer: I do not own Psych nor am I affiliated with the show or USA network. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster have been friends pretty much forever. Anyone who doesn't know them might think otherwise, considering their constant bickering and the fact that given the chance they turn on each other at the drop of a hat. But they both know that when things really get serious, they will always come through for each other, like best friends do. Things always seemed to work out in the end. No matter how much trouble Shawn managed to get them into they could always, somehow, get out.

Somewhere, way back in the fake psychics mind was a teeny tiny voice that asked him what would happen if things didn't work out for the better, if luck wasn't on his side and he finally got his best friend into more trouble than he could handle, who would help them then? But with each passing near miss and lucky break, Shawn shoved that voice further away and chased after the excitement that escaping the danger and solving the cases offered him.

Gus pulled his little blue car up in front of the Santa Barbara Police Station, Shawn got out of the passenger side, and continued his argument with his best friend. "Gus, everybody knows that putting pineapple on your peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the best way to eat it."

Gus rolled his eyes as the pair walked up the steps to the station doors, "No Shawn, no one thinks that but you."

"Only because they never tried it, you can't knock it till you try it." Shawn bounced eagerly on his feet as they entered the department's bull pen. The anxious man scanned the large room for his two favorite detectives.

The psychic duo had spent the morning snooping around for their latest case. A string of bank robberies along the coast had made its way to Santa Barbara. A single man had been able to strip several banks of thousands of dollars worth of money and then disappear without a trace. With some sharp observations Shawn had been able to discover that after robbing a bank the mystery man would hide out at a safe house until the right time came for him to make an escape on a fishing boat.

Against Gus' usual arguments the two went to the boat dock and were able to find the robber's boat, still waiting for its owner. While Gus kept watch Shawn searched the large boat for anything that would help him "divine" the man's whereabouts for the police.

He wasn't able to figure out the man's identity but he did manage to find an address to a house on the outskirts of Santa Barbara that he was certain was the robber's current hiding place. Now all he needed to do was get one of the detectives out to the house to give his big reveal and make the arrest. He was more than eager to do so.

Shawn's eyes finally landed on the blonde head of Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara as she walked out of the Chief's office and headed towards her desk. "Jules!" Shawn yelled and jogged towards the detective.

"Hi guys." Juliet smiled brightly at their arrival. "What's up?"

"I had a vision about the bank robbery." Shawn told her, his fingers shooting to his temples. "I can see the house where our no good bank robber is hiding out. Jules we have to go, he is there right now I know it!"

"Forget it Spencer." Head Detective Carlton Lassiter said as he strolled up to the group with a coffee mug in hand. "We've got better things to do than follow you around just because you had a "vision"" he finished, complete with a one handed air quote.

"Well actually Carlton, we don't have any other cases at the moment and we're all caught up on our paperwork. So it really couldn't hurt for us to go take a look." Juliet grabbed her badge and gun from her desk drawer and avoided a scowl from her partner.

"Great! Jules, you and I will go to the safe house. And Lassie, I need you and Gus to go to the boat dock because I'm sensing that the robbers escape…boat" Shawn paused as if mulling something important over "escape boat, right? That's a thing." He turned to Gus who just shrugged in return, "yes, his escape boat is there, I can feel it." He really just needed the head detective to keep an eye on the boat in case the criminal decided to make his escape early.

"I don't think so," Lassiter grumbled, "Unlike some people, I don't jump just because you tell me to." Juliet rolled her eyes as he stormed off.

"But I wasn't telling you to jump." Shawn yelled after him.

"It's ok Shawn, we'll just go to the house then check out the dock afterwards." Jules told him.

"Good idea." The psychic said with a thumbs up. He grabbed Gus by the arm and started to pull him to the side. "We'll be right behind you."

Juliet gave them a weird look but left for her car anyway. "Gus you have to go back to the boat dock." Shawn whispered.

"What?" Gus yelled in a high pitched squeak, "I'm not going back there alone, that fishing boat was creepy."

"C'mon Gus don't be a baby. You won't even have to get on the boat; I just need you to keep an eye on it in case…"

Gus smirked at his friend when he paused. "In case what Shawn? In case you're wrong?"

"No." Shawn gasped defensively, "I'm not wrong, I'm sure he's at the house, I just want someone there in case."

"In case you're wrong." Gus said still smirking.

"Whatever, just call me if anything comes up." He yelled as he ran to catch up with Juliet.

The car ride to the house took longer than expected. It was about a half an hour away and it wasn't easy to find. The tiny house sat back from the road, behind plenty of trees. '_Perfect place to hide' _Shawn thought as he and Juliet walked up to the front door. The female detective knocked firmly, "Now stay behind me in case this gets ugly." She ordered.

Shawn gave her a quick nod when the door suddenly opened. Juliet's hand instinctively moved towards her gun, but she stopped short when they were greeted by the house's occupant. "Hello? Can I help you?" an old woman, standing no more than five feet tall, stared at them through large, thick eyeglasses.

It took Juliet a couple seconds to respond, the woman was not what either of them was expecting. "Um, hi. I'm Detective O'Hara, this is Shawn Spencer, we're with the Santa Barbara Police Department." She finally said, holding out her badge. "We're investigating a bank robbery and we have reason to believe the man we're looking for might have come to this house."

"Oh my." The tiny woman exclaimed.

"Would it be okay if we came in and had a look around, Ma'am?"

"Yes of course, but there's no one here but me." She led the two in.

"Well you wouldn't by any chance have robbed any banks recently?" Shawn asked, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Juliet.

"Certainly not!" The woman snapped, "I hardly leave my house much anymore."

"Sure you don't." Shawn took a quick look around the house as the woman and Juliet talked. He spotted two sets of dirty dishes still in the sink in the kitchen to his right, and a pillow and blanket on the couch in the living room to his left. "I'm sensing that somebody else was here."

"Well yes, my wonderful grandson was here. But he left just a little while ago." The old woman told him.

"And does he stop by often?" Juliet asked.

"Well he didn't used to, but he has more often lately." She answered happily. "He usually stays longer, but he left in quite a hurry today."

Juliet shot Shawn a look. She was probably thinking the same thing he was. The rotten grandson was using his grandmother's house to hide out in after robbing banks. Juliet took down some information from the woman before the two headed for the car. "Shawn, you said he would be here."

"Well, he was when I had the vision." He said defensively. "But it doesn't make sense that he left so soon. It's too early for him to a make a run for it. It would be a lot more of a risk."

Juliet sighed as she got into the driver's seat. It had gotten dark since they left, and she was looking a bit tired. "He's probably headed for the boat; hopefully we can beat him there if we hurry."

"Right, I'll give Gus a call and see if anyone has been there yet."

Juliet froze as Shawn pulled out his phone, "Shawn, please tell me you didn't send Gus to the boat dock by himself."

"Of course not Jules." Shawn did his best to avoid looking her in the eyes, but he could feel her glare burning a hole into the side of his head. "Ok, fine. But it's not my fault, Lassie was supposed to go with him, but he wouldn't listen to me. Besides, he's just keeping an eye on things."

"Shawn, do you know how dangerous that is?" she yelled as she started the car and turned on the sirens. "Call him and tell him to leave until we get there."

The fake psychic sighed, she was really mad at him. It was going to make for a real uncomfortable ride back. The phone rang a couple times before Gus picked up on the other end. "Hey buddy, how are things goin'?"

"_I've been sitting in my car for an hour Shawn, and nothing has happened. I still don't know why I'm here, what the heck am I supposed to do?" _His friend's irritation came clearly through the phone.

"I know, Jules wants you to leave until we get there. Our robber might be on his way there and she thinks it might be dangerous."

"_What?" _Gus yelled into the phone, Shawn could hear him fumbling with his keys. "_Of course it's dangerous! I'm getting the hell out of here. I don't know why I listen to you. It always gets me into trouble. I-"_ Gus cut off mid rant and Shawn could hear something in the background.

"Gus? Are you there? Hello?" The line hadn't gone dead; he could still hear sounds on the other end. Juliet gave Shawn a questioning look.

Finally a voice came over the phone, "_What the hell do you think you're doing?"_ It wasn't Gus. The mystery voice made Shawn jump; he put the phone on speaker so Juliet could hear too.

"_Me? I um… got lost."_ This time it was Gus, but he sounded further from the phone than before and extremely nervous. "_This isn't the way to the smoothie shop; do you know how I could get there?"_

"_Wait a minute, you're one of the men that was snooping around my boat aren't you?"_ Mystery voice said. "_I got a call that two guys in a stupid, little blue car have been here and you just so happen to fit the description of one of them." _

"_Who me? No… I was just-"_

"_Out of the car now!"_

"_Ok."_ They could hear the door open and close and the sound of the two men walking. Shawn looked over at Juliet, sometime during the conversation she had sped up and was driving as fast as she could. Gus was in trouble and they both knew it.

The man must not have noticed that Gus still had his phone on. Shawn could hear what sounded like the two boarding the fishing boat. He knew that there was no way his best friend would just go willingly, which meant Gus was probably being held at gun point. Shawn's stomach twisted at the thought. Even though Juliet was driving as fast as she was they were still a long way away, there was nothing they could do.

The man's voice came over the phone again, "_So what was your big plan? You're not even armed, you are one stupid cop."_

"_I'm not a cop."_ Gus said nervously. "_I'm a pharmaceutical salesman_."

"_Right, sure. Well whatever you are, you're going to regret poking your nose into my business. I am-"_ the man pause briefly, silence filled the car. "_What the hell? Is that a phone?" _A struggle for the phone could be heard before the man's voice came back loud and clear, "_Hello, who is this?" _Shawn and Juliet shared a look of panic, not really sure what to say. _"This is that other idiot that's been snooping around here. Isn't it?" _He could almost hear the cocky smirk come through the phone.

"You had better not hurt him!" Shawn yelled, now angry at the man, and at himself for getting Gus into the situation he was in. "We have you surrounded! You can't run." He lied.

"_No you don't." _the man said flatly_, "there's no one here but me and your little friend. There's nothing you can do."_ He laughed, sending anger through Shawn again. "_I've got to make sure no one tries to cross me again."_

"I swear, if you-"

"I'm going to be nice though, and let you say goodbye." He interrupted. Shawn could hear him handing the phone back to Gus.

"_Hey Shawn." _Gus' voice cracked audibly with fear.

"Gus, buddy we're almost there. You just have to stall a bit." The click of the gun cocking hit Shawn's ears, sounding much louder than it should.

"_I don't think so Shawn. Listen, I…I.."_

Shawn's heart sank into his stomach. They were still so far away, was it possible that he finally got his best friend into more trouble than he could handle? What was he going to do? What could he do? "Gus I…" His voice caught in his throat. "I'm sorry."

Gus took a deep breath, "It's okay." Silence fell over both ends of the phone. Juliet tightened her grip on the steering wheel as the car sped forward. They weren't going to make it in time. Shawn could almost see the man's finger squeezing down on the trigger.

"_SBPD, drop your weapon now!"_ the familiar gruff voice made Shawn and Juliet jump.

"Lassie!" Shawn and Gus shouted at once.

"_Put the gun down nice and slow."_ Lassiter ordered on the other end of the phone. There was second of silence before sounds of a struggle came through the line, along with a cry of surprise from Gus, the clunk of the phone hitting the ground, and finally a gunshot going off, before the line went dead.

Fifteen minutes later, Juliet's car squealed to a stop at the boat dock. Shawn was out and running before they even came to a complete stop. He jumped onto the large boat and headed below deck, Juliet was close behind. The scene in the small cabin made Shawn stop dead in his tracks, with the female detective almost running straight into his back.

In the corner of the room, a man (most likely the bank robber) lay knocked out cold, next to a large duffle bag packed with money. In the middle of the boats cabin, Lassiter sat leaning against a wall with Gus kneeling next to him. Lassie was busy lecturing about staking out dangerous criminals without proper backup as Gus pressed his jacket onto the detective's outer thigh, just above his knee. He rolled his eyes and pressed down harder on the jacket making Lassiter stop his lecturing and let out a small cry of pain. "Easy Guster!" he scolded, but Gus didn't let up on the pressure.

"Carlton!" Juliet gasped once the shock of the situation finally passed. She quickly pulled out her phone and called for an ambulance.

"Gus, you're alive!" Shawn ran to his friend's side and gave him a hug.

"Shawn stop it." He tried to squirm from his friend's grasp without letting up on Lassiter's leg.

"What happened?" Juliet asked frantically, kneeling next to Lassiter. Her eyes caught sight of the growing blood spot on Gus' jacket covering her partner's leg. "What happened to his leg?"

"Lassie got shot." Gus's voice cracked with guilt and his eyes didn't leave the wound. Shawn could tell that his friend was blaming himself, which only increased his own guilt for having put Gus there in the first place, and now getting Lassiter hurt. But right now he was just glad they were alive.

Juliet put a reassuring hand on her partners shoulder. "The ambulance will be here in a few minutes Carlton, just hold still."

"I'm fine O'Hara! don't talk to me like I'm a child." Lassiter scolded her through clenched teeth. Juliet just smiled at him, besides his obvious pain, Lassie seemed to be his usual grumpy self.

Shawn glanced over at the man still lying unconscious in the corner. "What the heck happened anyway?" He could tell that the robber had been knocked out by hitting his head and that he had been the one to fire his gun, but what else happened he wasn't sure.

Gus was starting to look a little woozy with his jacket soaking through with more of Lassiter's blood. Without a word Juliet leaned over Carlton's legs and took the job of keeping pressure on his wound, Gus happily handed it over. He stood up and wiped his forehead with a shaky hand. "Well, I was sitting in my car, talking to you and the guy just appeared out of nowhere, waving his gun in my face." Gus paused, not happy with the memory.

"Well you're the one that was stupid enough to do a stake out in that ridiculous blue car." Lassiter interrupted. "You should have never- Ahhhhh!"

Juliet pushed down on his wound just enough to make Lassie shut up. "Go ahead Gus, keep going." She said, avoiding Lassiter's angry stare.

"Um… so he made me get on the boat and was going to shoot me, but Lassie showed up." He shot the wounded detective a look, giving him a quick nod of gratitude before continuing. "The guy panicked and tried to grab me and put the gun to my head, everything after that happened so fast. I think Lassie tackled him, which threw him into the wall and knocked him out, but the gun went off sometime during the struggle. Next thing I knew Lassie was lying on the floor with a hole in his leg." Gus let out a deep breath that he had apparently been holding.

"You tackled him?" Juliet's question sounded more like an accusation. "Carlton that's dangerous."

"Nice." Shawn said with a big grin.

"Well he was standing to close to Guster, I didn't have a safe shot. It was the first thing I thought of." Lassiter sounded very defensive. He avoided his partner's accusing glare. "It worked didn't it?" Juliet scowled at him but just kept her focus on his wound.

"I for one am glad that is what he chose to do." Gus said with a nod.

Sirens could finally be heard in the distance, Shawn let out a sigh of relief. They all waited as the sounds grew closer, but a thought suddenly hit the psychic. "Hey Lassie, what were you doing out here anyway? I thought you didn't have time for my "visions"" He said with his own one handed air quote.

Lassiter let out a huff, but looked away from Shawn. "I knew you two would be doing something stupid, and I just happened to be driving by this place so I thought I had better check up on Idiot #2 here." He motioned over to Gus.

"Awwww Lassie, I knew you listened to me." Shawn said with a smile. The boat's cabin soon filled with officers and paramedics. They lifted Lassiter onto a stretcher and carried him or to the ambulance, with him complaining the whole way.

"Shawn, how long are we going to stand here? Why can't we just go inside?" Gus was growing impatient standing next to the little blue car. They had been waiting outside the hospital for almost a half an hour now.

"Because, you know I don't like hospitals. Jules said they would be out any minute now." It had only been half a day since Lassie had been shot. Juliet had gone with him to the hospital and called the psychic duo to let them know when he was being released. The doctors had been able to remove the bullet and stitch up his leg without any problems, but Lassiter wasn't taking it well that he would have to be off work for a few weeks. Shawn and Gus both wanted to be there for the injured detective when he finally came out, they felt like they owed him at least that.

Shawn held onto a stuffed teddy bear with a little toy pineapple attached to its paw. He planned to present it to Lassiter as both a gesture to say thank you in the only way he knew how, and at the same time probably annoy him.

"Hey, there they are!" Gus yelled, smacking Shawn in the arm.

"Ow…Gus. Don't hit me, I can see them." Juliet and Lassiter were slowly making their way out of the hospital. Lassie was hobbling along on a pair of crutches, with Jules at his side fussing over him. She kept trying to wrap her arm around him to help him walk, but every time Lassiter would shrug her off. "Lassiiiiiie." Shawn yelled once they got closer.

Lassiter froze and let out an audible groan, "What are they doing here?"

"Be nice Carlton, they're here for you." Juliet whispered before Shawn and Gus caught up to them. He let out a low growl but didn't say anything else.

"Lassie, buddy, lookin' good." Shawn could see the bulge under Lassiter's pant leg, where his knee and thigh were wrapped thoroughly in bandages. It sent a small pang of guilt through him. "This is for you." He said, holding out the bear in front of him.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Lassiter eyed the little toy pineapple. He didn't make any movements to take the bear from the psychic; instead Juliet took it for him.

"Listen, Lassie, I just wanted to say…um.." Shawn fidgeted and looked down at his feet, he was clearly uncomfortable.

"To say what, Spencer?" Lassiter's voice was tinged with amusement. He picked up on Shawn's obvious discomfort, and was obviously enjoying it.

Shawn kicked at the ground with his shoe, he really was grateful to Lassie for saving Gus, he just didn't want to say it. "I just…well you know…" Finally something inside him broke, Lassiter had saved his very best friend. He had almost lost Gus for good, and it would have been his fault. He knew that the things he did were risky, but it was good to know that Shawn had plenty of people he could count on, even the grumpy detective himself. "Thank you Lassie! You saved my best friend!" he yelled and then jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Lassiter in a tight bear hug. He almost knocked the detective over but Shawn held him steady.

Lassiter squirmed under the psychics grasp, trying to pry him off. "Spencer, what the hell! Let go!" but Shawn didn't relent. Carlton looked over to Gus for help, but froze when he noticed the man had on his classic cry face. "Guster, what are you doing?" he asked with panic in his voice, he could feel another hug coming on.

"I can't help it I'm a sympathetic crier." Gus' eyes welled up with large tears.

"Nobody is crying Guster!"Lassiter shrieked a little unmanly like.

He was still trying to pry off Shawn when Gus wrapped his arms around him from his left side. "You save my life, Lassie!"

"Crap." Lassiter mumbled, "O'Hara would you please help me!"But the only thing that came from Juliet was a loud 'Awwwww' before she wrapped her arms around his right side, completing the group hug. "Crap"

**END**

Confession time: I wrote this whole story because I really wanted to write a group hug, and I figured the only way that Lassie would be part of a group hug was if he couldn't escape. Yay for group hugs!

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think.


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